Cable-tractor.



N. E. AYER.

CABLE TRACTOR.

APPLICATION man 001.111.1915.

1, 164,910. Patented Dee. 21, 1915.

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COLUMBIA PLANQGRAPH co.,wASHlNGTON. n. c.

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NATHAN E. AYER, or PORTLAND, canso-N.

CABLE-TRACTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

Application filed October 18, 1915. Serial No. 56,569.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN E. AYER, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Portland, county of Multnomah, and State ofOregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCable-Tractors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to ca'ble tractors, and more particularlyto aself-contained device adapted to operate upon a supporting', ortraction, cable and having such a propelling grip upon, or connectionwith, said cable, with means forming a part of said tractor and movingtherewith for operating the same, that it will carry a load valong saidcable and up a very steep incline, thus providing a device which willoperate upon a cab-le stretched from a low to a high eleva tion,carrying its load up the incline without any pulling attachments theretofrom outside sources, other -than the supporting cable upon which thedevice moves.

Among the salient objects of my invention are-to provide in a device ofthe character referred to, a plurality of pulleys adapted to run along asupporting cable, with means for holding the same in such adjustedrelationships to each other ,relative to a supporting, or traction,cable 'that an effective propelling grip upon, or connection with, saidcable is had, with means for driving said pulleys, whereby to causethemto travel along said supporting cable; to provide in a device of thecharacter referred to, as one practical driving means therefor, aplurality of combination gear pulleys' adapted to have intermeshingdriving engagements with each other at their gear portions, and atraction `el'igagement with the supporting cable at their grooves; topro-A vide in combination with a plurality of pulleys of the characterreferred to, means for driving all of said pulleys in unison, whereby tocause them .to move upon the supporting, or traction, cable, and' ingeneral, to provide an improved self-contained cable tractor of thecharacter. referred to, which is practical and eliicient.

ln order that others may understand my invention, I have illustrated thesame in the accompanying sheet of drawings which I willnow describe. v.l

Figure l is side elevation of one practical embodiment of my invention;and Fig. 2 is a top plan view showing the gear pulleys and cablemechanism only.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail, my invention, as hereillustrated, comprises a frame composed of two side members 1 1, havingsuspended thereto by means of supporting bars 2 2, a platform 3, uponwhich is mounted apower furnishing mechanism, hereinafter again referredto. Mounted between the side members 1 1, near their tops, are twopulley gearc 4 4, in suitable journal boxes 5 5, movably mounted andadjustable, in opposite direction, on an arc by means of adjustingscrews 6 6. Also journaled between said side members 1 1, is a thirdpulley gear 7 Said pulley gears, it will. be noted by reference to Fig.2, have circumferential cable grooves varound their middle portions kandgears at opposite sides thereof. A supporting, or traction, cable 8,passes under the pulleys 4--4, in their grooves, and over the pulleygear 7, in the manner indicated, said pulley gears being so positionedrelative to each other that their gear portions are in mesh with eachother and their grooves are in register with each other. VThe pulleygears 4 4, with their bearings, 5 5, as stated, are adjustable on thearc lof a circle concentric with the aXis of the pulley gear 7 wherebyasv said` gears 4-4. are moved downwardly around the gear 7, an increasein the wave-like bend, or kink, of the supporting cable 8, is made. Thiskink, or bend, yin the cable 8, makes possible the necessary grip of thepulley gears upon, or connection with, said cable, whereby said tractorcan be propelled along said cable, even when it is stretched on anincline, making it possible for said tractor to overcome the action ofgravity thereon.

As one means for driving said pulley gears 4 4 and 7,1 have provided asmall gear 9, mounted between the frame members f 1 1, and adapted to`mesh with the gear portion of the pulley, gear?,v said'gear 9, beingdriveny through a sprocket wheel 10, a sprocket chain 1l, and a sprocketwheel I2', shown behind and adapted l,to be driven frona gear 13, `whichis' adapted to be driven by one or the otherlof two beveled gears 1.4and 15., mounted'upon the engine shaft 16, and controlled by a clutchmechanism 16, of any suitable type. The engine shaft 16 is provided withthe usual shift gear mechanism ina gearbox, as at 1l, and is alsoprovided with a Apinion 18, which is directly behind a gear 19, mountedupon a shaft 20,l which is parallel with the engine shaft v16, the shaft2O being driven from the engine shaft 16, through saidv pinion 18 and'gear 19. The shaft 20 is provided with a worm, Z1, for driving a drumQ2, upon which is wound av liftingcable 23, which eX- .tends downwardlyand around a block 24, Vhaving a hook 25, and thence upwardly to a pointwhere it is attached to the frame members 1 1, as at 26. The engine ormotor is designated as 27, and may be of any desired type. The shaft 20and its gear 19,

may be connected into and out of driving relationship with the engineshaft 16, by means ofany suitable clutch mechanism,

Ldesignated 28. .Said cable 23, is designed for lifting the weight, orload, to be carried, from its location up to the cable tractor, and thenholding the same as lthe cable tractor is drivenfalong said cable totheplace of discharging said load. i

Thus I have provided. a self-contained cable tractor adapted tohave atraction connection with a supporting cable by means of the associationof the pulley gears relative' to eachother and lto the supporting cablewhich is'stretched from one point to another. The main feature, and thatwhich constitutes the invention of this application, is to be found intheprovision of three cable pulleys associated-with each other and withalsupporting or traction cable in such'a way as to produce a travelingwave-like action, in

said cable, through said pulleys, with means for driving said pulleys inthe proper direction to cause them to advance along said cable in onedirection or thev other, all of said p ulleys'having direct engagementwith said cable and preferably: being of the same sizeand driven at thesame speed. By reason ofthis particular assocationof traction pulleysupon a supporting, or traction, cable, with means for varying thepositions of said traction pulleys relati-veto each other and frame,

and I do not, therefore, limit my invention, except as I may belimited'by the hereto appended claims.A f lIclaim: v. z

1. In a cable tractor, the combination with a supporting, ortractioiicable, three traction pulleys arranged two on one side of said cable andthe other therebetween, at the opposite side of'said cable, withtheirvperipheries, or cable grooves, in overlapping relationship in the sameplane, whereby to produce a kink, or wave-like bend in said supporting,or traction cable, and means carried by said tractor for driving saidtractor'pulleys in unison, whereby to' cause them to advance upon, saidsupportingoi1 v traction cable.

.2. A. cable tractor of the character referred to, comprising incombination with a supporting, or traction, cable, a frame,

three tractor pulleys mounted therein in the saine plane, two of saidpulleys being mount-` ed at one side of said cable at a spaceapart, Iand the other of said pulleys being mounted therebetween at the'oppositesides of said cable 'and in partially overlapping relation.- ship withsaid two pulleys, whereby to cause a kink, or wave-like bend in saidcable, f

and means provided insadframe with driving connections therefrom fordriving said traction pulleys, wherebyto 'cause themto move along uponsaid cable.

3. In a device of the character referred to, in combination with asupporting, or traction, cable, three combination gear pulleys, arrangedtwo at one side of said cable and the other therebetween at the oppositeside of said cable, in the same plane, said gear pulleys having groovesto receive saidcable and having gear portions adapted to mesh with eachother, and means for driving said gear pulleys one from the other,whereby to cause them to move along upon said traction cable. f

4. A cable tractor of the character referred to, comprising incombination with a stretched supporting cable, a frame, three cablepulleys adapted to said cable andI each provided with. means for drivingit, said cable pulleys being arranged in ythe same plane, two at oneside of said cable and the other at the oppositel side `thereof and inoverlapping, or staggered, relationship between the two, whereby tocause a kink, Aor wave-like bend in said cable, and power mechanism withdriving connections to said pulleys for driving thesame together,whereby to cause said cable tractor to move along said supporting cable.

l5.151l self-contained cable tractor of the character referredfto,comprising in combination with a stretched supporting cable, a

and inv overlapping, or staggered, relationship with each other, withthree-cable pulleys mounted therein, .in the Vsame plane, J

said supporting cable passing therebetween through a wave-like path,power furnishing means carried by said tractor, driving con nectionsAtherefrom to one of said pulleys, and driving connections from saidpulley to the other pulleys, whereby said pulleys are all driventogether in a direction to cause them to move along said cable,substantially as described.

6. In a device of the character described, in combination with asupporting cable, a plurality of combination gear pulleys,` each havinga groove adapted to said cable and each having a gear portion adapted tomesh with the gear portion of another, and means for driving said gearpulleys.

7. In 'a cable tractor, in combination with a stretched supportingcable, a plurality of combination gear pulleys arranged in the sameplane at opposite sides of said cable, each ofsaid gear pulleys having agroove to receive said cable, and each of said pulleys also having agear portion at the side of said groove and adapted to mesh with ythegear portion of another of said gear pulleys, and means for driving oneof said gear pulleys, whereby to drive the others therefrom.

S. In combination with a stretched supporting cable, a frame, threecombination gear pulleys mounted in the same plane in said frame, two atone side and one therebetween at the other side of said cable invoverlapping, or staggered relationship with each t other, whereby tocause a kink, or wave-like bend in said cable, each of said gear pulleyshaving a groove adapted to receive said cable and each of said pulleyshaving a gear portion at the side of its groove, the gear portion of thepulley between the other gear pulleys, and on the opposite side of saidcable, being in mesh with the gear portions of both of the other pulleyson the opposite side of the cable passing therebetween, power furnishingmechanism, a hoisting drum with lifting cable and block adapted to beoperated thereby, and driving connections from said power furnishingmechanism to said gear pulleys, and to said hoisting drum, substantiallyas described.

9'. A self-contained cable tractor of the character referred to,comprising in combination with a stretched supporting cable, a frame,three cable pulleys mounted therein, in the same plane, and inoverlapping, or staggered, relationship with each other, with saidsupporting cable passing therebetween through a wave-like path, powerfurnishing means carried by said tractor, driving connections therefromto one of said pulleys, driving connections from said pulley to theother pulleys, whereby said pulleys are all driven together in adirection to cause them to move along said cable, a hoisting drumwith'lifting cable and block adapted to be operated thereby, and drivingconnections from said power furnishing means to said cable pulleys, andto said hoisting drum, substantially as described.

Signed at Portland, Multnomah county, Oregon, this 12th day of October,1915.

NATHAN E. AYER. In presence of- I. M. GRLFFIN, J. C. STRENG.

Copies 0f this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington. D. C.

